Roger Federer's remarkable run of appearing at every Grand Slam since 2000 was closer to ending than ever after a back injury at the Qatar Open earlier this month threw his Australian Open participation into doubt.
Both men are 31 years old but have little else in common.
Gael Monfils stormed back from 4-1 down in the second set to beat Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open on Friday and set up an all-French final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga following Roger Federer's withdrawal with a back injury.
Heavy rain washed out the final of the Queen's Club grasscourt championships on Sunday with Briton Andy Murray and Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga now scheduled to clash on Monday.
Serbia sealed their place in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in straightforward fashion but Britain survived another nail-biter before joining them in the last-eight on Thursday.
An hour after one of the worst beatings of his career Rafa Nadal refused to be too downhearted on Tuesday and said he was still in contention at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Roger Federer will aim to finish an off key year on a high note by winning a record sixth title at the ATP World Tour finals which start on Sunday at London's O2 Arena, a venue more famous for staging the biggest acts in the music business.
A resurgent Roger Federer swept past local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 to clinch his maiden Paris Masters title on Sunday and send a deafening warning to his rivals ahead of the ATP World Tour finals.
Novak Djokovic pulled out of his quarter-final against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Paris Masters because of a shoulder injury, the world number one said on Friday.
Spain's David Ferrer, his eyes fixed on qualifying yet again for the ATP World Tour Finals, romped past fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Vienna Open on Thursday.
Jelena Jankovic made it a Serbian win double in Asia on Sunday as she fought back from a set down to beat Germany's Angelique Kerber to take the Hong Kong Open title.
Roger Federer avenged his loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon this year when he beat the Frenchman 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the US Open and give himself a chance of a sixth title at Flushing Meadows.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Novak Djokovic is enjoying such a magical year that even patchy form and the acrobatic brilliance of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could not stop him reaching his first Wimbledon final and becoming world number one on Friday.
After seeing his world number one ranking slip away, Rafa Nadal refused to loosen his iron-fisted grip on the Wimbledon title by crushing Andy Murray Friday to set up a final against the man who has knocked him off his perch. Serbia's Novak Djokovic had earlier beaten flamboyant Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach his first Wimbledon final and guarantee top spot in next week's rankings.
Novak Djokovic ran into a spot of bother before seeing off Davis Cup team mate Viktor Troicki 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Thursday. Czech Tomas Berdych booked his place for the ATP World Tour Finals with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Serb Janko Tipsarevic.
The Russian five-times Grand Slam champion struggled for rhythm initially on the low-bouncing grasscourt at the Mallorca Open but picked up the pace to beat Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(8), 6-0.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic kicked off his bid for a fourth Canadian crown with a 6-3, 7-6(4) second round win over a stubborn Thomaz Bellucci at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will put friendship aside when they meet in Sunday's Australian Open final to decide who fills the power vacuum left by the early exits of Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer.
An ailing Rafael Nadal slumped out of the Qatar Open on Friday to deprive fans and organisers of an eagerly-anticipated final against his great rival Roger Federer.
The loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, says Senior Associate Editor Bikash Mohapatra, meant Roger Federer's wait for a record-equaling seventh title at the All England Club just got longer, while his aura at the venue received yet another battering.
Rafael Nadal left German qualifier Yannick Maden no hope as he booked his ticket for the third round of the French Open in ruthless fashion with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Canada named rising star and world number 69 Denis Shapovalov in its squad to take on India in the upcoming Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie, scheduled in Edmonton from September 15.
Roger Federer has backed calls to shorten the tennis calendar to protect players from burnout by creating a six week off-season.
Rafael Nadal will be missing when Spain face France in this week's Davis Cup quarter-finals but such is the depth of quality the holders boast they should stay on course for a hat-trick of titles.
Bernard Tomic lived up to his reputation as an outspoken player when he hit back at tennis coach Roger Rasheed who criticised his fellow Australian's behaviour. After Tomic's first-round victory over American Brian Baker at the French Open on Tuesday, Rasheed told local radio that the player should show more commitment. "To be honest I could beat Brian Baker...he couldn't hit two balls on the court," said Rasheed, who has also coached former world number one Lleyton Hewitt as well as Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils. Tomic, the 20th seed, is not a claycourt specialist and he lost 3-6 6-2 7-6(4) 7-6(6) to Croatian teenager Borna Coric in the second round. Asked what he thought of Rasheed's comments, Tomic said: "That's why I never got along with Roger.
Andy Murray has lost the world number two spot to Roger Federer in the latest ATP rankings released on Monday, after his defeat to Novak Djokovic in the Madrid Masters final.
A summary of Day 2 at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Konta, Sharapova fall at Rogers Cup in Toronto
Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal will begin the 2010 season in Abu Dhabi by playing in a six-man, $250,000 winner-takes-all exhibition tournament, local media reported on Tuesday.
Top seed Novak Djokovic advanced into the second round of the World Indoor Tournament on Tuesday when his Ukrainian opponent Sergiy Stakhovsky withdrew with knee problems while trailing 6-2, 4-1.
The sun beat down from a cloudless Parisian sky on Sunday as the French Open began with a sultry Venus Williams raising the on-court temperature and French favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga almost getting caught cold.
Photos from matches played Day 7 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Sunday
French Open runner-up Robin Soderling ruined Eduardo Schwank's 24th-birthday celebrations when he thrashed the unseeded Argentine 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open on Friday.
The 32-year-old, five-times a winner of the singles at the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up event, delighted a large evening centre court crowd with some fluent shot-making as he and Spanish veteran Lopez beat top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6(5), 6-3.
Leander Paes and his partner Lukas Dlouhy breezed past Spaniards Nicolas Almagro and Tommy Robredo to storm into the Sony Ericsson Open doubles final in Miami.
Novak Djokovic recovered from a set down to defeat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the Dubai Championships on Wednesday, while India's Somdev Devvarman lost to Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko overcame an early fright to beat France's Florent Serra 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday in an error-strewn first-round battle at the Dubai Championships.
The unseeded Michael Llodra cruised to his fourth career title when he beat fellow Frenchman and doubles partner Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4 in the Marseille Open final on Sunday.
Images from day 12 of the 2010 Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, on Friday.
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